Well my sweetie peaches, sharpen your pencils and put on your little plaid kilt, because you're about to have a lesson on the health benefits of red wine. There will be a test afterwards (by which I mean I will be testing the red wine in my glass to see if it's still delicious).
I have a beautiful, talented, charismatic friend named Laura. Laura and I were pretty good buddies in high school, and have recently re-connected through the modern miracle of time-wastery known as Facebook. Laura, besides being uncommonly pretty, is also a sister in wine-loving (she plays in an all-ukulele band too, which imo exponentially raises her cool quotient). Laura posted this on my wall:
"Hey Wino, I am wondering if you have had the chance to taste any Sulfite free organic wines? Having a hard time finding them and they are supposed to be the best thing to drink if you are trying to lose a bit of weight (which I am)."
Well Laura, I've seen your Facebook album. You don't need to lose anything in my opinion, but you did get me thinking about sulfites and the overall health benefits of red wine. So I did a little research (meaning I surfed the internet for an hour while eating cereal and avoiding work), and this is what I came up with.
Sulfites: the word is just a bit ominous, isn't it? This scary-sounding chemical ranks right up there with Mono sodium Glutamate in the healthy-sounding food additive department. There are those who claim that sulfites cause migraines, asthma, hives, racing heartbeat and seizures. In fact, there are few who have true sulfite allergies, but many who have sulfite sensitivity, to varying degrees. My sister teases me that she knows what kind of wine I'm drinking by the colour of my chest--red. True enough, my chest can become remarkably flushed when drinking wine, which is oh so attractive when you wear a shirt that allows for cleavage (it is a myth, however, that red wine contains more sulfite. In fact, sweet wines typically have the most sulfite, followed by white wine, and lastly, red). Sulfites are used as a preservative in a list of foods as long as Crystal Gayle's hair (we all know somebody who gets wheezy after visiting the salad bar--that's the sulfite keeping the lettuce from going brown). I will say that no where online could I find anything that suggested that sulfites make you fat. But, it stands to reason that sulfite-laden food could make you fat, because sulfites are used in heavily processed foods, and most heavily processed foods are not the healthiest choices. It's a bit of a stretch, but it's the best I've got.
When it comes to the most delicious of all liquid food--wine--bad news for sulfite-haters: it is virtually impossible to find wine that does not contain some sulfite. Why? Because sulfites are a natural by-product of the fermentation process. So even organic wines with no added sulfites still contain low-level amounts. And what about added sulfites? Are they evil? If you're not sulfite allergic/sensitive, then the answer is no. In fact, they're a wine-lover's friend. Sulfites have been added to wine for about 200 years or so as a preservative. They're added to put the breaks on the fermentation process, thus preserving wine's flavour and keeping it from turning to vinegar. Wine without sulfites can be unstable; their shelf life can be dramatically shorter, as they become prone to bacteria that causes spoilage.
In Part 2 I'll explain why red wine makes you healthier, younger and better-looking, and not just in your own mind either.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to test this glass of Baco Noir while listening to some ukulele music here:
'Til next time,
Barb
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